A typical splitter and blade guard assembly for a table saw is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,604. The blade guard covers the blade and downstream of the blade is a splitter device which maintains separation of the cut material by virtue of its location in the kerf. Separately of the splitter device are downwardly directly pawls which contact the surface of the workpiece and which function to prevent kickback of the workpiece should it get caught up in the saw blade. Although this system is capable of functioning very well in providing splitter and anti-kickback features, the device lacks universality in accommodating various saw blade widths, is complex in construction and mars the upper finish of the workpiece due to the pawls being biased downwardly onto the workpiece upper surface. Other types of splitter devices are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,530,867. The splitter device 38 is hook shaped and has a beveled edge 39 which is machined or ground therein. The device is pivotal from an operative position to a storage position. The device is of a fixed thickness and, hence, cannot readily accommodate varying thickness in saw blades, particularly in respect of the newer ultrathin laser cut carbide tipped saw blades.
U.S. Pat. No. 129,193 describes a splitter device having pivotal flaps. The pivotal flaps are mounted on an upright nose and has pivotal flanges which are set to a width less than the thickness of the saw cut so that the flanges may run free in the lumber without necessary friction and hence consuming less power.
U.S. Pat. No. 421,861 describes a fixed splitter which also functions as a back guard for the saw blade. Teeth are formed in the rear arch portion of the back guard which provide a splitter function in separating the cut pieces of wood where the chisel edges of the teeth may intercept and catch sawed material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,934 shows a splitter device with opposing longitudinally offset resilient contacts which fit within the kerf defined by the saw blade cut. The resilient contacts, however, do not provide an anti-kickback feature because the wood can slide past the offset teeth. However, kickback is not a concern with this type of veneering saw where blade multiples are positioned one adjacent the next.
There continues to be a demand for a simply constructed, readily installed and quickly removable or changeable splitter device with integral kickback feature and which may be universally mounted on any type of table saw.